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Braham set to step down as CEO of El Paso YWCA

Sandra Braham, who is credited with helping make positive changes and growing the donor base of the YWCA El Paso del Norte Region over the past nine years, announced she is resigning as its CEO.

Braham, who has served as CEO of the area YWCA since May 2006, is stepping down from the position effective March 8 in order to follow new career opportunities, she said.

“I feel it is time and being a woman of strong faith, I believe that God is directing me to move on to this next step,” Braham said. “I’ve always said that when it is time for me to go that God will make it clear that it is time for me to go. That happened when I was at UTEP for 14 years and I felt like I was being called to go to the YWCA and I did that.”

Braham, 51, accepted a position as the CEO of a large nonprofit in the Gulf Coast region of Florida. She declined to name that organization until it officially announces her appointment.

“Every career move I have made, every job I had has come to me,” Braham said. “So I really haven’t had to seek jobs that are right for me. It has been that they come to me. In this case, a search firm reached out to me and shared with me a significant opportunity to explore my next career move. I have been praying about it, talking to my pastor at church about my thoughts about where I was and where we were hoping that the next door would open at some point, and exploring that opportunity really felt right.”

She added, “The organization is very much like the YWCA and their programs are very meaningful and it is a little more responsibility in the service area. But more than anything, I feel that it is time and God opened the door. It has been very clear with how smooth and quickly things have happened that it is the right move for our family.”

Braham said she is very proud of the work she was able to help accomplish during her time at the YWCA, including helping the nonprofit succeed during a rough economy and leading the organization during its Centennial Celebration in 2009.

“My time there has been a tremendous one of growth and change,” Braham said. “It has been very meaningful. I feel like the time I got to serve at the YWCA was a very special time. I think when I joined the YWCA it had a great reputation, but the programs had stagnated a bit and the marketing was not really great.”

She added, “The technology was insufficient to run a large company, and some of the donors after Myrna (Deckert) retired and then another CEO between she and I, while many of the faithful donors stayed, some kind of stepped back to see what would happened with a new CEO. So I am very proud we led a very successful capital campaign in a very difficult time for our economy, and it really allowed us to build the donor base again, to bring donors back to the table and recruit new donors. So my time at the YWCA has really been one of building and change. That is how I would describe my time there.”

YWCA Board of Directors President Giselle Smith-Johnson said the loss of Braham will be a difficult one for the organization and the community, but she believes the impact Braham has had on the organization and the support of the community will continue to guide its success.

“It is a tremendous loss,” Smith-Johnson said. “She has truly over the last nine and a half years, plus the time she served as a board member, has been a strategic part of the growth and development of the YWCA. She is a prominent figure, but people in El Paso are strong supporters of the Y and believe in the mission of the Y and what we do for the community. I’m sure El Pasoans will rise to the occasion and support us as they have supported us in the past.”

Smith-Johnson said a timetable has not been set on when board members are hoping to hire a new CEO.

“We will be putting together a CEO search committee and be working on that initiative as soon as possible,” Smith-Johnson said. “We don’t want to necessarily put a particular date because since Dr. Braham has done an outstanding job of laying down a strong foundation, the last thing we want to do is rush in to pick a CEO. So we want to take our time and make sure we are getting the best person for the Y and the El Paso community.”

Some of the services provided by the area YWCA include housing, early learning centers, after-school programs and financial assistance for Texas veterans and their families.